Beyond e-Newsletters: Web 2.0

January 2012

If you already have an email newsletter but are looking for something more, the Web has evolved! While most business owners in Bloomington have never heard of Web 2.0, it’s here, evolving, and leaving some businesses behind.

Web 2.0 is the long-promised vision where web users close the content loop. Instead of just passive acceptors of information, they create and publish it. They also receive it in new ways: faster, stripped-down, and smarter.

Here are five Web 2.0 technologies that can supplement websites and emails:

Wikis: A type of site that allows users to easily add, remove or edit content. Eases collaborative authoring. Best-known example is Wikipedia but you can adapt the same concept for your business.

Blogs: As discussed in the Jan ’04 issue of Sparks, blogs are a form of online journal. They often provide opinion and commentary alongside rich media and links to related info. They can be used to create conversations among users.

SMS: Short Message Service (SMS) is more commonly known as txt messaging or just “texting.” It allows the communication of short text messages between mobile phones, other handheld devices, and landline telephones.

Podcasts: Our October ’06 issue discussed Podcasting 101. Think of a podcast as a radio show on the Internet that you can download and listen to at any time.

Webinars: Yep, you guessed it, short for “web seminars.” These are live meetings held over the Internet. Businesses often use them for meetings among far-flung executives but they can also be used for training, membership discussion, and even for customer interaction. As opposed to a webcast (a movie), webinars allow interaction among participants via telepone or telconferencing equipment.